The house was abuzz with preparations for going to the city. Even upstairs in Ginny's room she could hear Mrs. Weasley scurrying from floor to floor hurrying people along.
"Ron, dear, are you still in bed!" she could hear through the paper-thin walls. "Get that lazy bottom of yours up and dressed in ten minutes or we're leaving you behind, and that's a promise!" All of a sudden she realized the scuffling steps were coming towards her and Ginny. Aludra was sitting on the edge of her bed when Ginny sat up and jumped down off the top bunk in one fluid motion just in time for her mother to walk in. Ali had to stop from giggling at the comical way her red hair frizzed to match her mood this morning. She saw Ali first.
"Ah, Aludra, dear, thank you for being up and dressed already. You and I seem the only ones in this house capable of being on time." Then she turned a tired look on Ginny. "Well, at least you're up. Now dress nicely and be downstairs in ten minutes!" With that she shut the door and moved on to the rest of the house.
"Fred! George! You two are NOT wearing those to Diagon Alley! Upstairs, now!" Aludra had to smile. She heard hurried footsteps up the stairs.
"Ouch, Mum! We're moving, we're moving."
"Yah, no need for the broom!" Aludra laughed looking to Ginny to see if she was as amused. Ginny gave a bit of a smile at her brothers' shenanigans and turned to her duty of being dressed in ten minutes.
Ten minutes later, with Mrs. Weasley waiting at the bottom of the stairs, Mr. Weasley calmly reached the bottom landing by the front door and turned to stare up the stairs as well. No sound from upstairs. Mrs. Weasley let out a bellowing yell.
"Ron, Ginny, Percy, Fred and George! Downstairs now! We're leaving." Before she had even finished, a rumbling erupted downstairs as every single child in the house tried to rush down the stairs at the same time. Aludra laughed as she watched the traffic jam that occurred on the stairs outside Ginny's door. Fred and George pushed and shoved their way through the other kids (Ron and Ginny) to make it to the front of the mess. Sniggering the whole way down, Aludra followed them down the stairs with Percy just behind her.
"Aw, Mum, you forgot to yell Aludra's name. Now she's gonna feel left out. Happy?" One of the twins, she couldn't tell which, stood with his hands on his hips in a good imitation of his mother as he said this. Mrs. Weasley simply rolled her eyes, but it brought a bit of a smile to Aludra's lips. The twins seemed to be paying more attention to her than anyone else had in her whole life, besides Kristin, but that was different. She was flattered, but at the same time uncomfortable and cautious, in case they had something else up their sleeves intended for her. Her face had still a tinge of purple to it this morning when she woke up, but it had disappeared completely by now.
"All right, now you all know the deal with floo powder. And make sure you enunciate 'Diagon Alley' very clearly or you'll end up in who knows where, like poor Harry last year." Aludra cocked her head slightly at the mention of someone named Harry and she assumed they meant Ron's friend Harry Potter. He had been mentioned quite a bit during the previous day. Even celebrities need friends, she supposed. Fred was the first to go, disappearing in a flash of green. George put his arm around her shoulders and smiled.
"You look a bit worried, there. Never gone anywhere by the Floo Network, eh? No worries, it's a breeze...unless you're like Harry Potter and run your words together instead and end up in Knockturn Alley. Bloody good luck he had not to end up somewhere horrid instead. But I'm sure you'll be fine. Well, just to be on the safe side, perhaps you should stick some extra floo powder in your pocket although I hear the Arctic's particularly nice this time of year." With a wink, he vanished in a poof of emerald smoke.
Aludra hardly had time to think before Mr. Weasley gave her a bit of a nudge in the fireplace's direction. "Go on, we don't have much time. Just follow the twins' example." Timidly she grabbed a pinch of floo powder from the pot and, for a split second, she actually entertained the idea of putting an extra one in her pocket. The thought made her smirk with the ridiculousness of it. This would be a breeze. Even still, she took a deep, calming breath and threw the powder into the orange flames, turning them to the familiar green. So far so good. Without a second thought she stepped amidst the hungry, fiery tendrils that licked at her best cloak and clearly spoke, "Diagon Alley!" With a rush, she was sent spiraling upwards, hoping desperately that she had said it well enough for it to understand her. As she spun down and down, sometimes taking sharp turns that sent her stomach into her throat, she caught glimpses of other houses from through their chimneys. It was very surreal. A bit of panic gripped her heart when, after almost a full minute of this nauseating spinning, she hadn't reached her destination. But as soon as the thought crossed her mind, she shot out through a fireplace and landed hard on her bottom.
Coughing from the cloud of dust surrounding her arrival, she glanced up to see George offering her his hand to help her up. Ignoring it, she stood herself and uselessly patted at her clothing, desperately trying to get rid of as much of the soot as possible. In the end, she looked as dirty as before. Smiling amusedly, George stood with arms crossed and waited for her to finish. Seeing him blatantly staring at her in that fashion, she reached over and punched him hard in the shoulder.
"Ow! What was that for?" George rubbed at his upper arm in confusion. Aludra stood up to her full height, still at least a foot shorter than the twins.
"You know what. That was downright dirty and malicious." George smirked, his eyes twinkling, but with a kindness and almost an apology of sorts. Aludra almost seemed to be pouting in her irritation.
"But you have to admit that you enjoy the attention you're getting by being one of us, even if temporarily. My mother adores you, though she hardly knows anything about you, Fred and I are getting our amusement at your expense, Ginny and Ron I can't speak for, but they look up to you in a way, never having met someone of your unique experience before, and Percy…well Percy probably doesn't even realize you're still here, but that's just the way he is." Ruffling her hair playfully, he strolled off down Diagon Alley, probably in the direction of his brother, Fred, who she just now realized was not around anywhere that she could see. Readjusting her ponytail, she heard another of the Weasley children being catapulted from the fireplace behind her.
When the entire Weasley family, minus the twins of course, was standing in the street alongside Aludra, still dusting the black from their clothes and arms, they moved on to the purpose of their visit, school shopping. Aludra had never been school shopping before, but she had been in Diagon Alley the day before the departure of the Hogwarts Express before, so she was accustomed to the hectic hustle and bustle of it all. Mr. Weasley discretely reached in a pocket on the inside of his robe and handed a small drawstring bag to Aludra. She knew immediately that it was the money Dumbledore had given them on her behalf for those things she would need to start off the year. There wasn't much, but it was enough to get the bare essentials.
First stop was Flourish and Blotts for textbooks. Perusing the shelves with her booklist in hand, Aludra had her first encounter with the soon to be infamous Draco Malfoy. She had seen his father several times before on her little excursions about the wizarding areas of the city, most of them being in the various stores along Knockturn Alley. She spied him coming in the front door out of the corner of her eye. His father was absent, but she knew he seemed familiar by the shape of his face and the manner in which he carried himself. He spied her almost immediately and his shrewdly calculating mind recognized the fact that she was too old to be a first year and he hadn't met her before. With a few swift strides he reached the spot where she stood before the bookshelf, but she was prepared for him, adding her potions book to the stack already nestled in the crook of her left arm. They were worn and tattered, second-hand, but still useable (Ron receiving the books the oldest Weasley son had passed down through the rest, the latest being George and Fred, that were still on the booklist even through the years that had passed since the eldest had been a third year).
A couple of his cronies stood aloof in a corner and Malfoy moved to join them. As she continued to peruse the bookshelves for any that might interest her (she had always been an avid reader and enjoyed secretly learning spells) she realized that the boys were overtly staring at her, and not in a flattering manner. The snickered and whispered amongst themselves; she was the brunt of their jokes! She was appalled. A moment ago she had felt on top of the world like nothing could dampen her spirits and now these self-infatuated, spoiled little brats were making a fool of her and the entire store couldn't help but notice. They only knew her by what they had probably heard from their parents through the trail of gossip and what they could see right in front of them. Her cheeks burned in embarrassment as she abandoned her search and instead stepped hurriedly into line behind the last person. The line moved slowly in awkward silence and there were still twenty some people in front of her.
Soon they grew tired of their game and decided to take it up a notch. Bleach-blonde Malfoy turned his head towards a large, lumpy boy several heads shorter than him, but, keeping his eyes on Aludra, smiled maliciously.
"Did you know Hogwarts has a fund set up for 'poor unfortunates' like that new girl? What's her name again? Alaina? Alandra? No, no, that's not quite it…"
"'A loser' is more like it," the tall, troll-like fellow offered. It was set up, and everyone knew it. Insults like that didn't roll off that boy's tongue as easily as he had made it seem. The line moved forward and there were only about half a dozen customers ahead of her now, but more kept spilling in the door, immediately sensing the tension in the air.
"Well, my point about the Hogwarts fund was that they must not expect much out of her because she still has to wear the hand-me-down robes the orphanage gave her. Look, you can almost see her knees!" He paused, letting the words sink in, deepening the coloring in Aludra's cheeks. She couldn't believe someone could be so mean to someone they didn't even know. What was his problem! Did he just enjoy sensing the torment he put others through? It hit her; yes, he did, as did his father. Tormenting others was power. "Or perhaps one of the Weasley boys gave up one of his. It wouldn't surprise me. Always giving so generously, even to the chaff of the population like this one. No wonder they're so poor." He was going to get a taste of his own medicine.
As Aludra handed the man behind the counter her money, he smiled apologetically at her, recognizing her from one of her many trips to the store to sit in the corner and read the books she couldn't afford, she knew what area would be hitting below the belt for this Malfoy character: his vanity. Shoving her books into her mail-carrier bag, a Christmas present from a rich businessman who had taken pity on her one day in the streets when she was about ten, she spun on her heal to face the doors…and the boys. She was so fed up with Malfoy's antics and anticipated the payback with such excitement that she almost seemed to strut up to him and his goonies. Meeting his eyes with a terrible ferocity that lit up her own cobalt ones, she offered him a malicious smile and spoke loudly for the entire store to hear
"At least the Weasleys and I have the courtesy to wash our hair before going out in public, or are your parents cutting back on their expenses and you can't wash your hair as often as you should? Oh! Actually, I have a rough spot on my broom that could use some greasing, mind if I borrow some of yours? You obviously have plenty." And with that, she left the three boys staring in shock and amazement as she whisked out the front door and back onto the street. Not seeing any of the Weasleys nearby, Aludra figured she would continue on to the stores the others would be bypassing, like the owl store, and perhaps run into the twins again. She couldn't wait to tell them of her triumph over the Malfoy boy.
On her left she noticed one of the stores that sold owls, Magical Menagerie, and decided to see if anything interested her, heavens knew she had plenty of money to afford one of the less expensive ones. Slipping inside, the first thing she noticed was the smell. It was overpowering and she had to fight the urge to gag. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the gloom within the shop and saw cages and cages of animals of all sorts lining the walls. A heavy-browed, sallow-cheeked witch with thick, black glasses studied her from behind the counter. Offering the woman an uncomfortable smile, Ali moved along the shelves, studying the contents of the cages. One contained a couple of fur balls and they were humming loudly. Intrigued, she tipped her head to one side, a quirk of hers, and made as if to reach through the bars, but before she could, a loud raucous sounded from the far corner of the store.
There was a singular cage set apart from the rest, draped with a tattered, slightly mildewed rag, and a shrill scream was issuing from beneath. Something filled her with a sense of meaning as she gingerly stepped through the aisles. It was as if she had gone deaf, she couldn't hear any sound around her except the piercing call of the creature beneath that cloth. Her arm moved as if through molasses as she slid the fabric away to reveal a creature destined to be a huge part of her life. She could literally feel the weight of destiny pulling on her insides as the shrieking ceased and was replaced by the cooing of an owl; an owl that regarded her with yellow eyes that seemed to glow from within. Reaching her fingers through the rusted bars, she gently stroked the inky black, downy feathers. Nothing existed but the two of them for that moment in time.
She was suddenly very aware, then, of the presence of the witch who owned the place. Embarrassed, she withdrew her hands and masked the wonder that had been written so obviously upon her face and blushed modestly.
"He likes you. That's odd." Ali's head cocked to the side slightly in confusion. "Oh, no offence to your person, he's simply a pre-owned owl and old beyond the normal life span of your typical owl, and ill-tempered. This is the most docile I've ever seen him." Glancing back towards the very unique fowl, she knew it would be only too easy to haggle to a ridiculously low price.
Feigning boredom, she turned to survey the rest of the store and spied something she could pretend to be more interested in. As predicted, as Aludra was about to start baby talking to a miniature owl along the far wall, the store-keeper panicked and rushed over to convince Aludra of the benefits of that black owl.
"This one's cute, for sure, but I really think that black one is more your type. Kind of dark and mysterious with more personality than any other owl in here." Aludra shrugged and turned back to a tawny owl in a nearby cage. The black owl hooted, remonstrating her for playing games with the woman, but Aludra would not be deterred. The woman scuttled after her.
"He's experienced! That's earned through age that these others don't have." Aludra decided it was time to break this bargain down.
"What kind of price are we looking at here?"
"Well, he's not a bad owl, so maybe about-"
"He's old."
"Well, yes-"
"Which means the moment I walk out that door, he could die and I would lose all my money. As you can see, I can't exactly take that kind of risk."
"You do have a-"
"And he's pre-owned which means I'll have to work twice as hard to get his loyalty."
"That's very-"
"And he's black, which is quite unusual, so he'll be easily spotted, and we all know that owls will start being monitored again if Voldemort or some of his death-eaters…It's a risk." Glancing around at some other customers who had just entered the store, the woman leaned in close and whispered a more than reasonable price in her ear. Aludra looked over at the owl, meeting his eyes. The owl cocked his head to one side slightly in confusion.
"I'll take him," she pronounced, pressing the coins into the woman's hand.
A few minutes later, out on the street with the owl and cage in her hand and owl treats stuffed in the bag beside her books, she passed the broom store with its gaggle of too-young or too-poor children drooling through the front window. Though she told her self over and over how much she did not need a broom since she didn't plan on trying out for her quidditch team, she couldn't help but feel the tug of desire in her gut. Flying had been a wonderful escape from the world when other types of escape were inaccessible. The money pouch her friend had pressed into her hands the last night at the orphanage weighed heavily in her pocket. Kristin wouldn't need that money any time soon, not with new parents showering her with gifts. Aludra envied Kristin that, parents. It was a luxury Aludra didn't feel she would ever have. She didn't even want to think about how long Kristin had been saving up the money that now sat in her pocket. But how proud would she be if Ali did make it on to her house team and maybe even became famous some day? It would be all due to Kristin. As if on cue, she remembered the feel of the bat in her arm, the power of the connection of that bat to the bludger ball. Her competitive nature began to rear its head and she was convinced. Passing all the envious children stuck without, she spied the newest model, the firebolt, sitting boldly on display in the window. It was gorgeous, but way out of her price range. A Nimbus 2000, however, was perfect, in every way including price. Walking out of the store after purchasing the new broom, the children in the crowd started to push towards her to see if she had bought one of the longed after firebolts, but when she explained that it was only a nimbus 2000, they went back to their window drooling.
After that, it was only a couple small stops to get her cauldron and potions set and then back to the Leaky Cauldron to meet up with everyone else. When she entered, there was only Mr. Weasley seated at the bar, the rest of the family still out shopping for supplies. He smiled and waved her over when he saw her in the doorway, sliding a bar stool out for her. "Hi, Mr. Weasley. Day going well for you so far?" She stood beside the barstool, attempting to juggle her cumbersome purchases and still maintain politeness. "Besides the fact that the heat's making me sweat like mad, I'm just fine. Did you find everything you needed?" Over Mr. Weasley's shoulder Aludra noticed the innkeeper, Tom if she remembered his name correctly, glancing in her direction suspicioiusly. He was speaking with a hooded patron in the corner of the room and every now and again his gaze was directed most ardenty in her direction. Ignoring him for the moment, Aludra returned her attention to the flushed red-headed man gulping down glasses of water. "I found everything quite easily. It's not my first time here in Diagon Alley, but it was nice to be the one buying the school supplies instead of watched others do so instead." They both smiled and shared a small laugh at that. "I bet," he responded candidly. The black owl in one hand squaked loudly to remind her that she had not seen to his needs yet and he was running low on patience. "Well, I should go set my things down upstairs for now and see to my owl here. Which room am I in?" Turning towards the wooden stairs leading upwards, he motioned. "Up the stairs and third on your right. You're in there with Ginny and Hermione. Oh, and if you want to rest or anything upstairs, just remember that we'll be having dinner down here at about 5." "All right, thank you, Mr. Weasley. See you in a few hours, then. A nap sounds good, especially in this heat." With a nod from Mr. Weasley, she slowly stumbled up the stairs, trying to balance her new belongings. Third door on the right, Aludra twisted the nob and it swung open easily. There was a nice window on the far side overlooking the busy mass of London. Along the wall to her left was a bunk bed and a small single bed and on the wall to her right was a long table and an armoire. Beneath the window sat three Hogwarts trunks, the dark blue worn one being hers from the orphanage, but now with a Hogwarts insignia pressed into the top. Setting the owl down on the table along with her carefully wrapped broomstick, she loaded the rest of her newly acquired school supplies into the trunk and then laid down for a quick nap on the bottom bunk. Just before five the owl woke her with a curious intelligence that struck Aludra as odd. Deciding he needed a name, she set herself to the task of coming up with a good one by the end of the day. Fixing her hair, she slipped downstairs to where the Weasleys were all gathered, plus two new people she hadn't met yet. Ron was in mid-argument with a girl whose bushy brown hair blocked her face from the rest of them. A green-eyed boy with shaggy dark hair followed close after them. She had never met Harry Potter before, but she knew it was him immediately. Distractedly, her hand flicked to her neck where a single touch reassured her that her locket still hung in its usual place. He looked so familiar, but why? Hermione spied Ali almost immediately and scurried over and extended her hand in greeting.
"Hi, I'm Hermione." It was an awkward handshake with Crookshanks still purring contentedly in her arms, but it got the point across: Even if they didn't become the best of friends, it was better to have each other as semi-friends than semi-enemies. Ron realized his lapse as friend and quickly moved to make up for it before Hermione could show him up again.
"Oh, right, sorry. Aludra, these are my friends Hermione and Harry." Having already met Hermione, Harry and Aludra shook hands as well. With that they all moved to where Tom had pulled three tables together for their large party. Aludra sat down across from the twins this time, the perfect place from which to seek her revenge. Aludra could feel the familiar ache in her stomach that signaled hunger, but it was a mere ghost since coming to be with the Weasleys than it had before. After they ordered, everyone seemed caught up in their own businesses and Ali decided it was the perfect time to exact her revenge. Cautiously, avoiding suspicion, she slipped her wand out of the pocket in her robe and slid it along her leg, under the table. Taking careful aim at Fred's sneakers, she whispered the proper spell, barely audible above the din in the pub. She smiled satisfactorily as she saw her spell take action. Now it was George's turn; this would take a great deal more sneakiness than Fred's spell had. Returning her wand, she pulled out a miniscule dark blue glass vial with a pale powder inside it. Palming it, she awaited the proper moment when her revenge would be sublime. It wasn't long before she saw her chance. One of the men who worked here brought over their drinks and then went back to grab their food when George spied a friend of his out on the street and excused himself to go talk to her. With the others properly distracted, she slipped the cork from the vial's neck and tapped the meager contents into the glass across from her. Replacing the cork and vial, she swirled the glass around a few times to completely dissolve the powder; it hadn't even discolored the liquid, she was proud to note. Glancing along the table, she noticed Hermione watching her curiously. Placing her pointer finger against her lips asking for her secrecy a moment longer, Ali turned to accept the food being offered her. George quickly returned, attacking his food with vigor, as if in a race to finish. Something to do with that girl? She suspected it was so.
When he had downed it entirely, and given himself hiccups in the process, he drained his glass to wash it all down. Fred was finished as well and both stood to excuse themselves. Ali gripped the table: this was the moment when both would realize she wasn't one to trifle with. No sooner had Fred moved to step back when he discovered there was a problem and stumbled backwards, falling on his back, a comical look of surprise on his face. His shoelaces were knotted together. George couldn't help but laugh, but when he did he knew what the revenge upon his was. Instead of his usual laugh, a braying neigh filled the pub. Slapping a hand over his mouth from whence the sound emanated, it dawned on him that they had let their guards down and Aludra had gotten the best of them. Fred quickly realized that the shoelaces were not going to untie without magic and instead focused on trying to stand back up, without much success. No matter what George opened his mouth to say, it was a donkey's voice and loud beyond reason. Everyone but Percy and his parents were laughing hysterically, especially Ali who could hardly breathe from laughing so hard. Gasping for breath amidst the laughter that shook her body, Ali asked them if they yielded. Yet defiant, George let out a loud braying that sent Aludra into another fit of laughter. This was the most fun any of them had seen in a long time. One brother kept making it halfway to his feet and then falling over again while the other, trying to help him, kept his lips firmly clamped shut lest the donkey's braying escape him again. Finally, just as Aludra was sure she couldn't take any more of it, Fred relented.
"All right, all right, we yield. Fix us!" Grasping her wand firmly, she spoke the counter curse and Fred's shoelaces unknotted themselves accordingly. Scrambling to his feet, Fred glanced at his twin who brayed loudly at Aludra in frustration.
"And you? Do you yield?" George glared at her defiantly, but knew he had no other choice. Nodding reluctantly he accepted defeat. Pulling another tiny vial from her pocket, she emptied its contents into her own glass, mixed it all in, and handed it to George. Without a second thought he downed the entire thing, slamming the glass back down a little harder than he meant, wincing at the loudness of it. Gingerly he opened his mouth to speak…and his voice was again his own.
"That was awfully clever, little one. I'm impressed." Fred patted her on the head like she was a little puppy, Ali squinting at him in mock irritation. He laughed and started collecting his things. That night, Aludra, Hermione, and Ginny lay in their beds listening to the commotion going on outside. Something about Ron supposedly stealing Percy's Head Boy badge. "Life as a Weasley is exciting, isn't it, Aludra?" Ginny leaned down from the top bunk to see her on the bottom. Aludra smiled contentedly. "It is indeed." With that they all drifted off into peaceful, uninterrupted sleep, excited about the start of a new year school year and what Hogwarts would hold in store for them this time around.